Nightmare
by DavidShepard
Summary: The TARDIS materializes where it shouldn't then disappears leaving The Doctor (10/David Tennant) and a confused ordinary girl behind. While recuperating from being stranded The Doctor comes face-to-face with a child. The most impossible child. A child like something out of a nightmare. The child is a nightmare. A child bred from war. An immortal war. A war... of time.
1. Prologue

Evelyn. That's all she remembered at the moment. That name. Evelyn. She felt like she should know more than that but whenever she would reach for the past all she would feel is an all-consuming darkness and an unspeakable fear. She shuddered and went back to the one thing she did know. Evelyn. Even as the name rolled through her head something new became truth to her. She was alive. Inhale. Exhale. This realization made her stop cold. _But how do I know that?_ _Because, well, I do._ She thought to herself. She knew that she was alive. She knew that there was someone called Evelyn. And she knew she was a 'she'. Any other fact that she might have known before hand was gone. She couldn't reach it. But still she tried until finally the fear startled her. She opened her eyes and… White.


	2. Chapter 1

He knelt beside her. _I was such a fool. I should've taken her to Canada right away. Ooo and Canada is really nice this time of year. We could've gone to Vancouver. Ah, well, too late now._ He thought to himself as he looked up and down her body. He checked her pulse. Weak, but still detectable. He sighed out of relief. He was just about to pick her up and take her somewhere safer when she gasped loudly and opened her eyes. He jumped back startled and tripped over his own feet. He hit his back and head hard on the pavement. He sat up dizzy and disoriented. But then he remembered what was going on and sprang up to his feet. The man looked at her. What he saw sent chills through his body and down his spine. Her eyes were no longer what they used to be. Instead of the entrancing brown and gold eyes that were there before, they were grey. Grey, and cold. But even as he stared into them she seemed to lose consciousness again and her pale eyes rolled back into her head and closed. He slowly walked toward her wary so if she should come around again. But she didn't. He bent down and checked her pulse again. Weak as before. Weak but steady.

The man was again relieved. He stood up and looked around to familiarize himself with their surroundings. He knew no where he was because he had been chasing after the woman frantically. It had taken everything he had to just keep up with her. He had urged her to slow down and stop. He had called out to her but she took no heed. She just ran on as if the devil himself was chasing her. _Which considering the circumstances was eerie to say the least._ That last thought sent chills down his spine againso he turned his mind back to his surroundings. An alley way somewhere. By the looks of the buildings he figured they were in Harlem. This would make sense since he had a general idea of the direction she was running in. _But why here?_ He asked himself. _Everywhere else has been intentional. There has always been a reason for everything that has happened in the last few days. So why here?_

Either way he knew that they needed to move. He knew he looked like a foreigner and Evelyn was an easy target for the predators of the area. Unconscious and helpless in Harlem. Foreign and alone in Harlem. Not good for either of them. To his right was a street with cars bustling past. To his left the alley continued on down between apartment buildings until it opened to another street with only the occasional car passing by. He decided to go towards the former. But what to do with Evelyn? Carrying a sleeping girl was bound to get him some unwelcome attention. But leaving her was dangerous. She could wake up in who knows what condition or some less than friendly men could find her. He interlaced his hands and rested them on-top of his head and began to pace. "Think think think think think! Come on there's got to be some way out of this." He said aloud to himself. He looked up and saw that some of the windows above him were boarded up and dark even though it was evening. Maybe if some of the apartments were abandoned they could hide out in one of those.

He looked down the alley until he found what he was looking for. A fire escape. _Perfect!_ He started towards it then caught himself. Evelyn. He turned back and saw her where she was five minutes ago. Laying there where she had collapsed. _This is going to be a problem_. He thought to himself. _One thing at a time Doctor. Get her to the fire escape first then figure out how to get her up there._ So ditching his first plan to go to the road for help, he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bottom of the fire escape. He set her down as gently as he could and then turned his attention to the fire escape. The bottom was a retractable staircase and not a ladder. The man ran and jumped at the end of the stairs but just missed. After several tries he finally got his hand on the edge of the step and began lowering the staircase.

Now the challenge was getting himself and Evelyn up to the fourth floor where he had seen a boarded window. He could try and wake her but he didn't know what state she would be n and he didn't want to deal with a discombobulated Evelyn down here. Dealing with a normal Evelyn was difficult enough. No. He would have to figure out a way to get her up there without waking her. And that means he would have to carry her.

After contemplating several plans on how to get her up there he finally settled on one. He picked her up in a fireman's carry with her slung across his shoulders with him holding onto her legs and arms. He slowly shuffled his way to the bottom of the fire escape and began to climb. _Ow! Oh where's Mickey when you need him?_ He thought to himself just as he hit his head on the platform above him. Stooping down lower he continued on to the next stair case. He felt like he was doing considerably well until he dropped his precious cargo. She didn't fall far but she didn't land gracefully either. She hit the platform below him with a resounding clink and thud. He winced waiting for her to wake up or for someone to come out and see what he was up to. But as the seconds ticked by he began to relax. But it was gone as quickly as it had come. _That fall should've woken her up instantly._ He began to worry that she was worse off than he originally feared. He rushed down and checked her breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Her breathing was stable and relaxed. A thankfulness blossomed in his chest putting his mind at ease. She was ok. She may not be in the future but for now she was ok. And for that, he was glad.

The man allowed himself to slip to a sitting position. He leaned his head against the railing and looked at the girl he had spent the last few days with. He reflected on the events that started just four days earlier. He thought back to how he ended up in London in the first place. He remembered how he was off his mark by just over two-thousand kilometers and by about twenty-seven-hundred years. He went through the events that led him to where he was. He sighed. There wasn't anything he could do at the moment besides get them both to safety.

The man stood up and dusted off his suit. He bent down and picked up his friend. Yes, she was his friend. After all they had been through recently, what else could they be? He picked her up and began the last part of his climb. More carefully this time so he wouldn't drop her again. Finally he made it to the fourth floor window platform. Setting down the girl he began kicking in the boards blocking the window. When there was enough room for them to get through, he positioned the girl so he could easily pull her in after him. He crawled in and took a quick stock of things. There was a kitchen to his right. The kitchen had a small stove, small, dishwasher, and a small refrigerator/freezer. In fact, everything that he could see was small. Just before the entrance to the open kitchen was a small table. Just big enough where you could get three, maybe four, people around it. In the far right corner was a moth eaten sofa which at one time was green. At least he assumed it used to be green based on the tint of the cushions. To his left was a doorway that presumably led to a bedroom and a toilet. Directly across from the couch was a plain wood coffee table which had cords and wires coming out from behind it. Presumably where a telly used to be. The floor was covered in a shag brown carpet with numerous stains from God knows what. And to his far left was a door that he presumed led to the hall.

Despite the beat-up, gross, run-down look of the place, he knew it was perfect. Anything valuable had already been looted so no one would come looking and there were no signs that anyone had lived there in the last year. The perfect place to hide. He turned around and pulled in the woman and carried her to what was left of the couch. If you could call it a couch still. A more accurate descriptions would be a couch-resembling-object-with-stuffing-coming-out-of-everywhere-that-looks-like-someone-played-target-practice-with-it-then-proceded-to-spill-apple-juice-all-over-it. Immediately after she was on the couch he explored the rest of the apartment. He was correct in presuming that the door earlier to his left led to a toilet, or bathroom since they were in America. And a small bedroom was beyond that. He found mirrors in both the bedroom and the bathroom which he immediately destroyed. He pulled out a medium-length silver device with a blue light at the end and pointed it at both mirrors. He couldn't simply break them or throw them out the window. The shards would be too big. He took both and set them up on one wall in the bedroom next to each other. Pointing his device at the mirrors, it made a high pitched whirring, buzzing noise that grew in pitch until both mirrors shattered into a million little pieces. None bigger than the fingernail of his little finger. He couldn't take any chances right now. They had to be careful.

He walked back into the living room and looked at his friend. She was sleeping soundly on the tattered sofa with her chest steadily rising and falling with each breath. He wanted desperately to check the color of her eyes to see if they were still the sickly grey he saw earlier or if they had returned to their natural pallor. But even more so he didn't want to risk waking her. Even if a fall 10 minutes ago didn't he wasn't about to take the chance. So, he stifled the urging of his gut and turned away from her. He went to the window as if he was looking for something. Or someone. Turning toward her he said, "Sleep well Evelyn. Let there be no dreams to disturb you. Sleep soundly for I will keep watch tonight. Tomorrow we will deal with your mind and what to do next. That is, if you are awake tomorrow. If not, well, then I may be too late. You'll be safe here tonight. I promise." Turning back to the window he resumed his watch for whatever, or whomever he was looking for. "Cross my hearts."


	3. Chapter 2

The girl woke with a start. Evelyn. That name again. Whose was it? Was it hers? She didn't know. She tried to remember what had happened to her before but she couldn't. Every time she reached for the past all she found was an immobilizing fear and a headache. Her head seemed to be splitting open. She winced as she sat up. _Where am I?_ She looked around the room trying to get her bearings. She was sitting on what was left of a sofa that at one time was green. Across from her was a table with various cords and wires coming out from behind it through the wall. She turned around to see what else was in the room. The floors were covered in an awful color of brown carpet that varied in shades from numerous stains. To her left and behind her was an open doorway through which she could make out part of a stove and assumed that was a kitchen. And next to the doorway to the kitchen was a small table. And at that table was a man.

The man was staring out the window. He had a look on his face as if he was searching for something. As if he had been searching for days for he looked exhausted. His hair that at one time was nicely groomed and styled up, was disheveled and messy. He wore a blue suit that was unbuttoned and worn along with blue trousers and red shoes. Converse. They were called converse. How did she know that though? It was as if some facts she could remember but anything about her past was untouchable. Her headache worsened as she thought about it. She groaned and rested her forehead in her hands.

The man turned quickly at the noise and seeing her awake her rushed to her. He grabbed her shoulders and lowered her gently back down on the couch.

"Easy. Easy there. Yea, that's it. You've had a long week." He said.

She didn't even know this man and some instinct told her to run. To get away from him as fast as she can and to never see him again. As if he were the devil himself. But she was in no state to get up no less run. But even as she felt the urge to get away from him, an even stronger feeling of trust overcame her. His voice was soft and soothing. Like a father talking to his child. These two feelings were so in conflict with each other that she did not know what she should do. But knowing that she was in no condition to do anything at the moment, she let him lay her down.

As he did, she got a better look at his face. It was even more haggard than she previously thought. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days with the responsibility of the world on his shoulders. This was a man who knew great responsibility and great conflict. Whilst he had seemed young at first, his eyes told a different story. His body said mid-30s but his eyes, his eyes were ancient. They were the eyes of one who has seen entire civilizations come and gone. The eyes of a man who lost everything he had a hundred times over. They were dark from all they had seen but at the same time they shone like a child's. Looking at the world for the first time. The odyssey of his eyes told an epic of a man born for adventure ready to see the world. A man on a mission to make the world a better place. But also that of such a man getting pulled into conflict. A man who had to do terrible things. A man who has been alone too long still caring around the weight of deeds he regrets and the responsibility of the world. In his eyes she saw an ocean of mercy and kindness. The eyes of a father who would leave his job if his daughter fell off the swing. But she also saw a man capable of anything. A man willing to do anything if he thought it was necessary. And that, more than anything else, scared her.

"How do you feel?" His voice pulled her away from her thoughts and back to the present.

"Uhm I don't know… Where am I?" She asked. But when she had spoken the words, the voice that came from her sounded familiar yet, strange to her. As if from a half remembered dream. _But why? If it's my voice, why can't I even recognize that?_ This line of thought troubled her deeply. Many things have been troubling her since she woke up. But that was to be expected right? After all, she had lost her memory…

"You're safe for now." Again that voice. Somehow, it seemed to be able to pull her from the depths of her own thoughts and launch her back to reality. She stared into those dark, entrancing eyes of his. She watched him. Trying to make up her mind about what she saw in them. He sat down on the floor and propped his left arm up on his left knee while allowing his right side of his body to lay freely. He looked at her as one would look at a loved one with a terminal illness. With a prolonged sadness. Knowing for certain the horrible outcome but no knowing when it will happen. With a pity that seemed to rake down to her very soul.

"How much do you remember?" The question seemed to come out of nowhere. He knew what happened to her?

"I uh, I remember a name. Evelyn. Is it mine?"

"What else?" He said ignoring her question.

She sighed, "Um, well, I remember a flash of light earlier but otherwise I can't remember anything about my past. Who are you?"

"I was afraid of this." He said with a sigh. Again ignoring her question. A feeling of hopelessness began creeping through her. Why couldn't he just be forward with her? He continued.

"Well I guess we should be thankful that all you lost was your memory. You could've easily lost your life." He paused and looked at her. "You're very lucky."

She tried to sit up again but as soon as she did so the world began to spin and tip wildly. The man in the suit sprang to her side.

"Easy. Easy there. Eeeaaassyy." He grabbed he shoulder to help steady her. After a few moments the world became still once again. She groaned from her headache.

"Hang on one second." The man got up and went into the kitchen. He came out a minute later with a tall glass of water. The glass looked like nobody had used it in twenty years. She took the water from him and began to drink. The instant the water passed her lips her headache began to lessen and new life seemed to seep slowly into her limbs. She drained the glass like she hadn't had water in days. The water was so refreshing. The man left and returned with water three more times. These glasses she drank with only a small degree less of vigor. When she had finished her fourth glass, her headache had all but left her and her limbs had a renewed vitality to them.

"Feeling better?" The stranger asked.

"Yes, thank you." She replied.

Sitting back down against the small table across from the couch, he propped his knees up and wrapped his arm around them interlacing his fingers where his hands met.

"Well, I'll help where I can. As for your first question… Evelyn. Yes. That is your name. Evelyn Young. You're twenty-two years old. You live in London in a small flat by yourself. You're a professional photographer and free-lance for weddings and The Guardian." She waited for him to go on but he didn't.

"Is that all? What else? Do I have a mum? Dad? Do I have any siblings? What else do you know?" She seemed to be begging him for details about her past. She was on the verge of losing it. She felt so helpless.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that this happened to you. And I wish I could tell you more about your past. But we've only known each other for the last week."

"Well who are you?!" She cried out. She was feeling more and more desperate by the second. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes. The whole situation seemed unfair to her. Why did she have to lose her memory? Why couldn't he tell her who she used to be? Had she done something before to deserve this? She buried her face in her hands.

After a few moments the man spoke. "I'm a friend. My name's The Doctor and I'm going to do everything in my power to help you." At the sound of his voice she looked up and caught his stare. There was so much pity in his eyes that she thought she might lose her self-control and begin bawling right there.

"You'… You're a doctor?"

"Yes. But I am Thee Doctor."

"The Doctor? Doctor What?" She asked somewhat perplexed.

"Just The Doctor" He replied casually. She didn't have the capacity to try and figure out this man's name so she decided to simply accept it and move on.

"What is going on? Where are we? What happened? Why can't I remember anything?" As she spoke her voice rose in pitch and volume. Panic began to set in and she tried once again to reach for the past. But as before all she felt was fear and her headache intensified immensely. She clutched her head in her hands and began to cry. Partially out of hopelessness and partially from the pain pounding through her head.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. The man, or The Doctor as she now knew him, had gotten her another glass of water and was offering it to her.

"Here. This will help." She drank it somewhat reluctantly but as soon as she did she felt the panic slip away and the pain in her head lessen.

"Thank you." She said. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her. She allowed him to comfort her. There wasn't much else she could do. _Who was this man and why was he being so kind to her? Was he her friend?_ He pulled her close and simply held her.

After what seemed like an hour he finally spoke. "We're in the middle of Harlem in New York City…. America." He looked at her as if she should be shocked. But since she didn't have a sense of where her home was it really meant nothing to her. He seemed to realize this and continued his story.

"Well, I guess I better tell you everything since this all started. From the beginning. The very beginning…"


	4. Chapter 3

He paused for a second. He considered carefully how to start. But just as he was about to continue she interrupted him. "But why can't I remember anything? Did I hit my head? Or…. I don't know! Just, why can't I remember?!"

"It won't make any sense to you unless I give you some background. Ok?" She seemed frustrated but nodded none-the-less. "Ok. Thank you." He moved away and turned to her so he could talk to her face-to-face. But as he opened his mouth he paused, why couldn't he just show her? _I'd have to do it in three parts, but it should work._ He was worried that he would damage her mind even more but he had little choice. Explaining everything out loud would take too long. And time, wasn't a luxury that came in abundance right now.

"Here, I can show you." He said as he reached for her head. She recoiled at first but he reassured her that everything was ok. He cupped her head in-between his hands. He slowly brought her head forward until their brows touched. He closed his eyes. She studied his face wondering if this man was crazy. He seemed to be intently focusing when there was a stab of pain in her head and then, white.

All of a sudden, she wasn't in the room. She was somewhere else. She wasn't exactly sure what was happening. But she felt like she was waiting for something. She had the demeanor of one waiting for a job interview. Then, she suddenly knew. She was inside his head. Or was he in hers? She wasn't sure but she knew that this was not normal. Who was this man? Then the answer came to her. She already knew. This man was The Doctor. And his past unwound in-front of her. As if she was watching a movie. A movie of someone's life. He was born into one of the great houses of Gallifrey. A Time Lord. But that was all she knew. He seemed to black out the entire first part of his life. Like a classified report. With details blotted out. Then she saw him again. So young. Younger than he was now. His eyes were full of wonder and reserve. Like he was hiding something. She could hear him being asked a question.

"Who are you?" She knew that voice. She knew that she didn't before but now, she knew. The President. But it wasn't her knowledge. It was his! She was watching his memories!

"Lord Doctor." Was the reply that echoed through her mind and she could feel it as he did when he chose. Not just a name but he had decided to be The Doctor then and there.

"Doctor who?"

"Just, The Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

"Just The Doctor." And back and forth this went. He was asked and he answered thirteen times. There was a significance about the question being asked thirteen times. Again as she reached out for the information, it came to her as if it was her memories she was retrieving. She knew why. The significance of what she just saw. No, the significance of what she just experienced. Thirteen times for each version. He was promising to be The Doctor every time his face became a different face. He would always be The Doctor. Even when he wasn't who he was. He will always be The Doctor. From now to the end of thirteen.

Then more experiences filled her up and she experienced them as he did. She was him and yet she wasn't. She was taking part of his life and yet she was just observing. She wept when his friends died. She cheered when everybody lived. She wept when he changed and the new Doctor had his turn at the stage. When his friend Koschei was young. When he was an idealist. When they played together. When they went to the academy together. When he saw Koschei try and fight the injustice of their Lord President and The Doctor joined him. When everything went south and Koschei became more radical. She cried as she watched The Doctor's heart break when he had to stop his friend. And she cried when he did, when his friend was no longer the man he was. When he went from Koschei to being The Master. Then she watched as he changed. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, black, ten, eleven. Eleven faces. _Black? Why was this face blocked out?_ Then she knew that she would know later. That it was a tale for later. She watched this amazing man become a god. She watched him do the impossible. She watched him take the steps no one else could. He would save worlds. Universes. Systems. Individuals. Everybody. No, not everybody. People died. People who followed him, he buried. He buried his friends. He buried strangers. He even buried his enemies. This was a man who would begin to hate his life. Yet for the sake of everyone else, he would push on. She saw his enemies. Daleks. Cybermen. Nestene. Beings of pure thought. Humans. Slytheen. Angels. Master. And so many others. But there was always the man of mercy. Giving them a chance. And they repeatedly ignored him. Their battle became personal. They tried to hurt the man form Gallifrey. They killed his friends. They killed his people. And they killed his favored species. Humans. She saw his love for humanity and so did his enemies. They all tried to end The Doctor through the humans. But it only made him fight all the harder.

She saw and experienced this all at once and yet, she seemed to watch it all in order. The man pulled away and looked into her eyes. She realized they had only been sitting there for less than a minute. Something tapped on her leg. She looked down and on her pants was a single dot or moisture. She reached up to her face and her hand came away wet. She had been crying. She looked back into the man's eyes and saw everything he had shared with him. He had shared much, but there was still the large black spot from one of his past selves. _What is he hiding?_ She couldn't get that part off of her mind.

She was still dwelling on his secrecy when he reached for her head again. This time she did not recoil, but leaned in eagerly. Knowing something she was ignorant to before-hand was exhilarating and peaceful. For right now she knew nothing of the past and she knew this man could help fill in the blanks.

Again, their foreheads touched. Again he closed his eyes and concentrated. But this time, the shock was minimal to her. She was ready this time and eagerly entered his mind. She wanted, no, she needed the information he had. She needed to know what was going on with her .

There was something different this time. As he pulled her into his mind, it was dark. It wasn't bright like before. His mind was dark. Dark and closed off. She was scared. What was going on? Then she saw. A war. Billions died. Entire systems burned. And there was no end. A war that couldn't end. She saw The Doctor. No. He wasn't The Doctor. Not anymore. That was very clear in his mind. And she knew that this was the dark part of his life that he had blocked from her earlier. But unlike before, he blocked many, many memories from her. Instead of allowing her to see most of his experiences, he only gave her a few. She knew he was drawn into the war with little choice. She knew what Rassilon was planning. She knew what The Doctor had to do. And she knew what the Daleks were doing. The man from Gallifrey allowed her to experience the encompassing fear of the time-lock. She needed to fully understand the complete hopelessness of the war. Besides that there was only one other thing The Doctor showed her. But it wasn't a full memory. It was just the emotions from a memory. Fear. Hatred. Sorrow. Such great sorrow. All pointed towards an entity unknown to her. But The Doctor knew. What was it? But as more feeling from this particular memory began to fill her, she began to panic. What was this horrible thing? What could possibly fill the man from Gallifrey with so much horror? She pulled away suddenly. Shaking. Whatever it was, she didn't want to know. She didn't want to know anything more about what she had just seen and felt. She began to sob uncontrollably. The tears came and continued to flow faster and faster. More and more. Until she felt like she would drown from the great sorrow she felt. She wished he had never shown her anything about that awful war.

She felt his arms around her and she looked up into his face. She blinked away the tears so she could see more clearly. "Why did you show me that?" She coughed out.

"Because that's how you lost your memory." She was so confused she couldn't speak. But she did know one thing. That if that, thing, was reszponsible for her memory loss then it was really bad. What she did know was that it was born out of the Time War. But somehow it had escaped from the time-lock. And that was bad.

"What was that thing? What could be so horrible that I lost my memory from it?" She asked. There was a long pause where the man said nothing. He just looked at her with those sad eyes of his. Full of pity. Full of regret. She was about to burst into another round of weeping when he spoke.

"It's called The Nightmare Child. It was an entity that was awoken by the Daleks in the hope that it would turn against the Time Lords. But it didn't. It was a force the Daleks couldn't control. It was on its own side. All it did was throw more chaos into the center of the war. It worked better for the Daleks. They are masters of chaos. Even if it wasn't helping them directly. It was still doing more harm to the Time Lords than it was to them. 'Necessary sacrifices.' Is what I heard one Dalek say. They didn't care how many they lost as long as the Time Lords were destroyed." After this he became lost in memory and his voice trailed off.

"You said that it was awoken…" Evelyn edged him on to continue.

"Yes." Replied The Doctor. "It was, is, an ancient entity that was subdued by the founders of modern Gallifrey. As Rassilon and Omega were experimenting with the first bits of the untempered schism there came through a creature. It was very weak and already horribly injured. This was because it had fallen into the time vortex without any shielding but it was so powerful that it lived. But still it attacked. It took both hands of Omega, all the power of Rassilon, and even the Pythia was there. The Pythia knew that if they didn't help then all of Gallifrey would be destroyed. And so The Nightmare Child brought old enemies together. With the combined might of the Pythia and her followers, Rassilon, Omega, and the hands of Omega, The Nightmare Child was defeated. But only just. If it had not been already so weak there would've been no stopping it. They agreed it was too dangerous to keep on Gallifrey. The took it to a remote system where the Pythia and her followers spent weeks weaving their Psychic abilities into The Nightmare Child's mind to keep it asleep for all eternity. They could not kill it so they did the next best thing. And as I said, the Daleks hoped it would fight for them. But it had no agenda but its own." There was silence for a while as Evelyn took in what she had just learned from this man. Until finally she broke it.

"But then how did I lose my memory?"

"It is such a powerful being that weaker minds can't handle it. I've seen people's minds simply burn from catching a glimpse of it. Humans don't have really strong minds, but you have a stronger mind than most. You were luck all you lost was your memory. You could've simply died."

"So you're saying I just looked at it?"

"Yes." It was hard from her to wrap her head around the idea of how simply looking at a creature could cause so much damage. She had an urge to remember what she had seen but quickly rejected this idea due to what had already happened to her. She looked into The Doctor's eyes to see what he was thinking. He was looking at her as if she was a puzzle that needed solving. She didn't like this at all. It made her feel like something was very wrong with her. Which was true. She had just lost her memory.

All of a sudden there was the searing pain in her head again. But this time it had come back with a vengeance. She began to scream. The pain was like white-hot needles pushing through her skull with someone hammering repeatedly on her head.

The Doctor jumped towards her and placed his hands on her head in an attempt to put her to sleep. If he wasn't careful he would hurt her mind beyond repair. After a few beats she passed out and he sighed in relief. He gently laid her down back on the couch and let her rest. She had absorbed a lot of information that wasn't hers. She needed her rest. He would let her rest as long as she could. He would tell her the rest tomorrow. There was much more that needed to be said. For now, he would keep watch.


	5. Chapter 4

**Thank you all for being patient. It's been a ridiculously crazy past couple of months for me but I apologize for not writing. I'll do my best to update as often as I can from now on. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it!**

The man hadn't slept in days. He felt like he was about to collapse any second. But he willed himself to stay awake. He couldn't allow himself to be off guard for even a minute. It was too dangerous. He had to be read to move at a second's notice. If the Nightmare Child found them, no, when the Nightmare Child found them he would need to be ready to run. But he was tired. So tired. If he had his TARDIS he could take a nap then. She would wake him if there was danger nearby. But since he had no idea where she was, he couldn't. He wouldn't. Maybe after he showed Evelyn the rest then she could take watch for a bit. But first he had to convince her to stay. She would want to run back home after he showed her what was left. This was understandable of course, but under no circumstances could they go back to London. It would know as soon as they crossed the Atlantic where they were and then they would be done for. The universe would be done for. No, going back would be the last thing they wanted to do.

He began to list off the assets they had, or the lack there-of. No TARDIS, none of his friends that could help him. Rose would know what to do right now. He missed her so much. He was happy for her. She had her family, her life, and even him. Knowing that gave him closure…. Almost. He still missed her at times. Sometimes it was just a passing pang like when one hasn't seen a friend in a long time. Other times the pain of losing her was unbearable. Sometimes he couldn't take it anymore. Not just Rose but everything. He missed Koshei. He missed his family. He missed his home. He missed Donna. He missed his friends. There were times, although few, where he missed Jack. No matter how wrong he was, Jack was his friend too. Sometimes he came close to hiding the TARDIS and erasing himself from the universe. But he loved his friends too much to do so. They needed him even if they couldn't see him.

This line of thought was getting dangerous for him and he broke off and focused on other things. He began trying to make a plan to get out of here. They had to find the TARDIS. That was priority. Well, after Evelyn was in better shape that is. There was nothing they could do without the TARDIS. He had some theories as to just how The Nightmare Child escaped the time-lock but he couldn't know for sure. But the fact that it had at all scared him. What if the rest of the war could get out? Parts of it had already. The Cult of Skaro. Dalek Caan. Out, then in again, and then back out. There was also another mystery that needed answering. And soon for it may hold some answers about The Nightmare Child. Davros. Rassilon and the High Council. Were the boundaries of the time-lock breaking down? Was that even possible with the one sealing off the time-war? Smaller ones could simply be turned on and off as defense mechanisms when necessary, but the one across the time-war was different. It had been made to never close. Not even intentionally. Just as a by-product of the war. So much time had been distorted it just seemed to correct itself. Unless…. No it was an idea too preposterous to even entertain.

He looked over back at Evelyn. Asleep. Still. Her chest rose and fell steadily with every breath. For the first bit of her sleep she tossed and turned violently. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't just sit and listen to her be tortured in her sleep. He went over to her and promptly replaced her dreams of the terrible things he had shown her and replaced it with a happy family and life. She shouldn't be as entrapped in her dreams as she is in reality. She had slept for the last sixteen hours peacefully. He needed her to wake up. He couldn't go on like this for much longer. He needed her to keep watch so he could sleep. But he didn't dare wake her. It wasn't fair to her. She had her life turned upside-down and deserved all the rest and peace she could get. For once she awoke there would be none. So he let her rest. He would let her wake-up on her own. Until then, he needed to keep himself awake.

For the next three-and-a-half hours he exercised, played games by-himself, and worked on some of the theories he had been running through. He managed to keep himself up, but was no closer to an answer than he was since all this started.

Just as he was about to start another game of mental chess by himself he heard Evelyn groan. He turned to see her beginning to sit up. Immediately he grabbed the glass he had given her earlier and went to the sink to fill. He was half afraid every time he turned on the faucet that it would explode. Or that the glass would spontaneously shatter. By the state of the apartment he considered it as a legitimate possibility. But the faucet sputtered out clean, cool water and the glass held. One he had filled it he made his way quickly over to Evelyn. He offered her the glass and she took it and proceeded to drain it. Three more times he went to the sink to get her another glass of water. Three more times clean water sputtered out. Three more times the glass held. Three more times she took it from him. Three times she drained it. Albeit a little slower each time. As he took the glass from her for the fourth time headed to fill it again she said, "Thank you. I think I've had enough for now."

He put the glass on the small table he had been at for the majority of their stay in the run-down apartment keeping watch. After he had set it down he went back to the young girl that was so far from home and so lost in her mind. Poor girl. He kneeled down next to her. She had her head in her hands as if she was trying to solve the mystery of the universe. She looked up as he kneeled down next to her.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Better. Much better thank you."

He paused. Hesitant to give her the rest. Could she handle it? What if she can't take it and her mind becomes lost forever? Did he have the power to make that choice for her?

"What's wrong?" Her words pulled him from his thoughts. By the look of her face his concerns were showing.

"Nothing. Are you ready for the last bit?" He asked hoping he didn't have the edge of worry in his voice that he felt. He didn't want to worry her any more.

"I-I'm not sure. It's been so much to take in I just…" Her voice trailed off looking for the words to finish her thought. But there were none. At least, not in any human language. She stopped and took in a deep breath. She felt the air fill her lungs and then rush out again. Taking with it any remaining used air. It was as if her entire system was being cleared. "Yes. OK. I think…. Yea ok. I'm ready."

The man hesitated at first. Was it his choice to risk her life? Who died and made him the presiding judge over such things. Gallifrey. Gallifrey and billions more. The thought struck him with such power it shook him down to his core. He owed everyone that had been killed, no. Everyone that he had killed. He owed them the universe. He had to continue doing what needed to be done for the greater good so that their deaths were not in vain. Even if that meant putting others' lives at risk. Even if it meant putting Evelyn's life at risk. He reached forward and cupped her head in-between his hands. Looked deeply into her eyes, then pushed his brow against hers. And he allowed his memories to flow into hers…


End file.
